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BJP's victory - Press Statement by Shri Lal Krishna Advani

After the BJP’s decisive victories in the Vidhan Sabha elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh towards the end of 2007, I had stated that 2008 would turn out to be a ‘Year of Change’ in national politics. My affirmation has been vindicated by the triumphant performance of the BJP in the Vidhan Sabha elections in Karnataka.

I sincerely thank the people of Karnataka for giving a mandate to my party. I also heartily congratulate the state unit of the BJP and Shri B.S. Yedyurappa, under whose leadership the party contested the elections, for this victory. This is a verdict against the Congress party’s politics of opportunism and the JD(S)’s politics of betrayal.

However, the Congress party would be indulging in self-delusion if it thought that the people of Karnataka were influenced only by local factors. The UPA government’s utter failure to control the prices of essential commodities, its soft and compromising policy on terrorism, and its insensitivity towards the plight of kisans have angered common people all over the country. This is evident from the Congress party’s defeat in almost all the Vidhan Sabha elections held since May 2004.

I have no doubt that my party’s triumph in Karnataka will prove to a turning point comparable to the quantum increase in parliamentary strength that the BJP achieved in 1989. It will be recalled that the BJP won 86 seats in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections compared to only two seats in 1984. Thereafter, the BJP’s victory march became unstoppable and led to the formation of the BJP-led NDA government in 1998. It also ended the Congress’ one-party domination at the Centre and transformed India’s polity into a bi-polar system.

Nearly 20 years later, another turning point has arrived in the challenge put up by the BJP to the hegemony of the Congress. Whereas earlier our party’s growth was due to its ability to form governments in northern and western states, and also, later, in Orissa and Bihar in the east, now for the first time we are in a position to form government in a southern state. This geographical expansion of the BJP, and the simultaneous shrinkage of the Congress party almost all over the country, shows the shape of things to come in the run-up to the next parliamentary elections.

New Bangalore Airport opens for traffic

The much-awaited Bengaluru International Airport finally opened late on Friday to commercial operations, with an Air India Airbus A320 (IC 609) from Mumbai being the first to land at 22.37 pm, carrying about 110 passengers and crew.The same aircraft took off as IC 957 to Singapore 15 minutes into Saturday (00:15 IST), with 80 per cent of its capacity (144 seats) filled. Captain Ishwar Pal and co-pilot Gourav Jaggi were behind the controls of the Airbus to cruise for 210 minutes and land at Singapore by 06:15 local time.

The Rs 25-billion ($625 million) greenfield airport is situated at Devanahalli, about 40 km from India's IT hub. It is surrounded by greenery and farmlands, with the historic Nandi Hills forming the backdrop. The airport inauguration was delayed three times before it finally became operational.There were several protests against the privately built airport because of its distance - about 35 kms from the city centre, at the end of a road that already routinely gets jammed with traffic.

The new airport has been built in record 36 months under public-private partnership to handle about 10-12 million passengers per annum till 2012. The consortium consists of Unique Zurich Airport, Siemens Project Ventures and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) as private promoters, while Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Karnataka government as state-owned promoters.

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Aamir Khan apologizes to Shah Rukh Khan

After ridiculing the King Khan in his blog, Aamir Khan has tendered his apologies to Shah Rukh Khan, having incurred the wrath of many, fans and others. Their blogging war started with Aamir Khan making references to his dog named as Shahrukh in his blogpost.
Aamir had begun his blogpost saying, “Shah Rukh is licking my feet and I am feeding him biscuits. What more can I ask for”.
He was referring to a dog, named as Shahrukh by his caretakers of his home at Panchgani.
His attempt at humour however did not go well and came to heavy criticism far and wide in the country.
Aamir was therefore quick to apologize to Shah Rukh Khan. On the sidelines of the music launch of his movie Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na at the residence of veteran actor Shammi Kapoor, Aamir apologized, “My sincere apologies because I didn’t mean to upset anybody. That was not my intention, my intention was just in good humour. So, if someone has been hurt - my fans, Shah Rukh’s fans then my sincere apologies. I did not mean to hurt anybody.”
In his blog, he wrote,” Shah Rukh is a dear friend of mine and I have highest respect and regard for him. That blog was in good humour and a lot of people found it funny. However, some did not. Many felt I shouldn’t have said that. So my sincere apologies to people who were uncomfortable with that part,”.
It is usually Shah Rukh Khan who lampoons film personalities and colleagues. But Aamir Khan’s attempt to emulate him has fallen flat. Shah Rukh Khan has wisely kept quiet about this controversy and created an image of taking it sportingly. It is touché for King Khan.